Girolamo Riario (1443 – 14 April 1488) was a Lord of Forlì and the husband of Caterina Sforza, and also the father of Bianca and Ottaviano Riario.
Biography
Early life
Born in Savona, Riario was the son of Paolo Riario and Bianca della Rovere. He was a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, who granted him the seignory of Imola, as a dowry for his marriage with Caterina Sforza (daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan) in 1473. He took control of Forlì four years later.
Trouble with the Medici
Girolamo was an enemy of Lorenzo de' Medici and the latter had hired the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze to thwart several of Girolamo's plans, which was successfully done.[1]
Work as a Templar
By 1488, Girolamo had joined the Templar Order and was assigned to make a map of all the Codex pages scattered all throughout Italy. The same year, Caterina, an ally of the Assassin Order, hired the Orsi brothers to kill Girolamo, because he was a Templar and partly because he had been, in her words, "a lousy father, boring in bed, and a pain in [her] ass." They looted his home and stabbed him in the abdomen right in front of his daughter, Bianca.[1]
Trivia
- Historically, Girolamo Riario was one of the Pazzi conspirators working against Lorenzo de' Medici. During Assassin's Creed II, he is never identified as one of its members (though it is revealed he works for the Templars).
- Some of Romagna's assassination contracts involve killing his soldiers and agents.
- Aside from the database entry about the Orsi Brothers, Riario can be seen in the game (albeit from the back). When Ezio and Leonardo are discussing Caterina, she and her husband can be seen arguing in the background; Leonardo even points him out during their conversation.
References